Mearsheimer says China could not rise peacefully.
But the comments got to the real question:
China already rose peacefully.
It did not bomb its way into the world’s second-largest economy.
It did not build 800 overseas military bases.
It did not sanction half the planet.
It did not invade, assassinate, regime-change, and call it “order.”
China rose through factories, ports, railways, power grids, shipyards, engineers, workers, and decades of national discipline.
The real question is not whether China can rise peacefully.
It already did.
The question is whether America can decline peacefully.
And that is where the real danger begins.
The New York Times accidentally revealed the moral bankruptcy of capitalism.
China is making breakthroughs in cancer drugs, clinical trials, biotech research, and life-saving medicines.
The first American reaction is not:
“How many patients can this save?”
It is:
“Will this threaten U.S. dominance?”
“Will American biotech lose its edge?”
“Will Big Pharma struggle to keep up?”
That tells you everything.
In a sane world, better cancer drugs would be a human victory.
In Washington’s world, even medicine becomes a battlefield the moment China helps people live.
China’s biotech rise is not just about winning.
It is about responsibility to a massive patient population that cannot wait for American monopolies, American prices, or American permission.
Cancer patients do not care about U.S. dominance.
They care about staying alive.
And that is exactly why China cannot leave this field to America.
Nancy Pelosi was deeply involved in the 1989 color revolution in Beijing, which ultimately failed. This is also why she harbors such hostility toward China.
Meanwhile on Chinese TV: "I visited California in the 80s. They were promising high-speed rail. China didn't even have highways."
40 years later, they have built zero. China: biggest high speed rail network.
"The superiority of socialism is clear."
Now we know why Peter Thiel packed his bags for Argentina.
Milei just submitted his AI legislative framework to Congress, where he proposes:
- zero regulation on AI development,
- a brand-new "non-human corporation" category for AI/robot-operated entities with limited liability
-a low-tax regime with flexible governance rules.
The Dutch East India Company gave the world the limited liability company in 1602. Milei wants Argentina to do the same for autonomous AI agents in 2026.
Just so everyone is clear, the gripe here is that China is destroying the profits of the western bourgeoisie, because they are forced to make their products cheaper to compete with Chinese competitors.
This is the central argument of 100% of all western economic analysis of China. The more affordable China's products, the more it destroys their monopolies and their profit margins.
As always, the purpose of such propagandists, as well as their "elected" governments, is to make the interests of the bourgeoisie appear like the national interests of their respective countries. It's the first rule of bourgeois economics: What's good for the bourgeoisie is good for the proletariat.
The US has refused to host Iran's national team for the World Cup even though they have to play all their games there
Which means they're based in Tijuana and will have to fly on the day of their games
I've never heard of this kind of discrimination in World Cup history
UPDATE: Dulce Diaz was in fact a U.S. citizen and the Trump admin has now acknowledged the fact and issued her a passport. Below was DHS’s angry (and utterly false) claim to the contrary.
Proof that, yes, ICE has at times detained US citizens in error.
It always astonishes me how there is virtually ZERO public debate - or even public awareness - in Europe about the decisions that will most shape ordinary people's lives.
These days, the EU is drafting a new anti-China legal framework where - quite literally - the more affordable and competitive Chinese products are, the more illegal they'd become.
You'd think EU citizens would want to be informed about such things - as it couldn't be more consequential for their prosperity.
Yet I bet virtually no EU citizen is even aware of it, beyond a vague sense that there is some sort of trade dispute going on.
So what's going on exactly? It all centers around a new legal instrument the EU is drafting called the "overcapacity instrument" (https://t.co/mNpCMudYyS).
First of all, the very notion of "overcapacity" is pretty ridiculous to begin with, especially the way it's being defined by the EU, as it basically means being competitive enough to export.
By this definition of "overcapacity," pretty much every European industry that's ever run a trade surplus - German cars, French wine, Italian fashion - has been guilty of "overcapacity."
I'm not even exaggerating: if you read this study by the EU Parliament on "Industrial overcapacities, with a focus on China" (https://t.co/TcwEBoL8mD), they define "overcapacity" as building more capacity than your domestic market can absorb. So the moment you build capacity to export abroad, you're in "overcapacity."
Utterly ridiculous.
And what this "overcapacity instrument" is about is creating a permanent legal mechanism for the EU to block Chinese competition across whole sectors of the economy, if they happen to be in "overcapacity."
In effect, this means that if China is competitive globally in a given sector in such a way that it exports a lot, that's proof of overcapacity, and legally it'd mean that the entire sector can be restricted from the EU market.
Which means it really, factually, is a legal framework where the more affordable and competitive your products are, the more illegal they become.
Which is a CRAZY economic concept! 🤦♂️
Please note that it's different from the anti-subsidy legal instrument, which the EU has already put in place in 2023 (the "Foreign Subsidies Regulation": https://t.co/SvPKFyN0zo).
This "overcapacity instrument" would be above and beyond this: it wouldn't even matter if a particular sector was subsidized by the Chinese government or not, the mere fact of its competitiveness in exports would be grounds for restrictions in the EU.
It doesn't take a genius to understand how badly this could impact everyday people: this is European consumers being forced to pay more for worse products by law, so that uncompetitive European firms don't have to improve.
Politicians frame it as avoiding a "China shock 2.0" but really this is choosing an even steeper self-inflicted decline than is already the case, where EU citizens would subsidize mediocre EU companies that would have even less pressure to catch up. It's a hidden tax: subsidies for uncompetitive firms paid by consumers instead of governments, which in turn makes them less incentivized to become competitive.
The first "China shock" did de-industrialize Europe somewhat, but at least it made things cheaper for European consumers. If this becomes Europe's response to a second "China shock" not only it'd make everything more expensive but it'd do nothing for EU industry: you don't become competitive by banning the competition...
Look at China itself: the way it industrialized was NOT by banning Western firms but on the contrary by welcoming them strategically and learning from them. You learn to compete by... competing, duh!
What I find most shocking in all of this isn't even the policy itself - you can make arguments for and against protectionism, and reasonable people can disagree.
What's shocking is that virtually no European media outlet is explaining any of this to the public. This is unarguably one of the single most consequential economic decisions the EU will make this decade, affecting the price of everything, and it's being drafted in near-total silence.
No newspaper is running the headline "EU plans to make Chinese goods illegal if they're too affordable" - even though that's essentially what's happening.
But that's what you call a "democracy" with "freedom of expression" these days apparently...
Images are emerging of Persian Gulf barnacle infestations which could render ships inoperable due to propeller and fouling issues
Crews are in some cases receiving only one meal a day - some are reportedly not being paid
Israeli outlet Ynet reports on Israel’s delegation to the New York parade. Let’s talk about them, starting with Israeli cabinet minister Amichai Eliyahu, who wants to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza, “starve” them all, bomb humanitarian sites and “wipe out” everyone living there
🇱🇧 This is Hussein Fayad, a Lebanese chef cooking for the displaced Lebanese civilians across the country. Let’s help him by donating here: https://t.co/udCu0bl8GG
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno If being an American means having no morals and supporting men pissing on pregnant women, I guess I’m not an American.
And the intentionally bad thing here still seems to be the sexual behavior, which you insist isn’t actually bad.
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno Well at least you admit you’re a degenerate. If she did this indoors without the marketing, you’d be okay with it. It’s only the social media and news coverage that disturbs you.
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno You still can’t say what’s provocative, outrageous, and dangerous about this sexual content compared to any other porn performer’s. Is bdsm or cnc not that too? And why is it bad? If she stopped publicizing it as much would it then be okay?
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno You allude to this “fundamental difference” yet can’t quantify or qualify it. The outrage content is just the marketing vehicle for the porn. No porn, no career.
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno She isn’t a porn star bc the high priests and priestesses of porn (arbiters of morality!) consider her below them? It’s like an alcoholic distinguishing himself from a crack addict. You still can’t articulate what principle makes Bonnie Blue unacceptable but not mainstream porn.
@DuerksenKen@TheHagueOrHell@doctor_rahmeh@normfinkelstein You agreed with me. The Israel lobby exercises great influence on American domestic politics but is an arm of U.S. imperialism. Any “control” is what the foreign policy establishment allows. U.S. could pull the leash at any time.
@alisonblair77@twanchovy@angijones@owenjonesjourno The woman doing sexual acts for money on a sexual act for money platform isn’t doing porn? The men paying her aren’t sexually interested? Coulda fooled me. Sounds like those other pornstars are in denial about how similar they are.